A tropical disturbance swirling in the Atlantic Ocean well off the coast of Africa has been designated “Invest 95-L” by the National Hurricane Center Friday, and a bump in its odds for developing into at least a tropical depression.
The tropical wave is a few hundred miles southwest of the Cabo Verde Islands and while the NHC gives it only a 20% chance of developing in the next two days, there is a 40% chance of development over the next seven days.
An “Invest” is simply a naming convention used by the National Hurricane Center to identify areas they are investigating for possible development into a tropical depression or tropical storm within the next seven days.
Once a system is dubbed an invest, a collection of specialized datasets and computer forecast model guidance can begin on that area of disturbed weather. These computer models simulate the system’s projected track possibilities and predict its future intensity.
This storm has peak winds of just 25 mph so far, and the NHC says the system is drifting to the north at about 3 mph.
Dry air over the Atlantic from the Saharan Dust Air Layer may prevent significant organization during the next two days. Once the wave moves further into the Atlantic, conditions could be more favorable for development by the weekend.
If the storm organizes into a Tropical Storm, it would be named Emily.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Don continues trekking along in the central Atlantic and in the Pacific, Tropical Storm Calvin brought heavy rain to the Hawaii Islands but has since dissipated.